APRIL 5

— U.S. specialty material company Celanese and private equity firm Blackstone to combine their cellulose acetate tow units under a new joint venture (notified Sept. 9/deadline extended to April 5 from March 26)

— German industrial group Bayer to acquire U.S. seeds company Monsanto (notified June 30/deadline extended to April 5 from March 12 after Bayer offered concessions)

APRIL 16

— Lenovo Group and Fujitsu to set up a joint venture whereby Lenovo acquires a majority stake in certain assets of Fujitsu’s PC business (notified March 7/deadline April 16)

— Strategic Value Partners to take control of polyurethane foam maker Vita Group (notified March. 7/deadline April 16/simplified)

JUNE 7

— South African chemicals company Tronox to acquire the titanium dioxide business of Cristal, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s Tasnee (notified Nov. 15/deadline extended to June 7)

JULY 18

— German industrial gases group Linde to merge with U.S. peer Praxair (notified Jan. 12/ deadline extended to July 18 from July 4)

DEADLINES:

The European Commission has 25 working days after a deal is filed for a first-stage review. It may extend that by 10 working days to 35 working days, to consider either a company’s proposed remedies or an EU member state’s request to handle the case.

Most mergers win approval but occasionally the Commission opens a detailed second-stage investigation for up to 90 additional working days, which it may extend to 105 working days.

SIMPLIFIED:

Under the simplified procedure, the Commission announces the clearance of uncontroversial first-stage mergers without giving any reason for its decision. Cases may be reclassified as non-simplified - that is, ordinary first-stage reviews - until they are approved. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee)